There is discord in the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland, tension between priests who live beside and converse with their parishioners and church leaders who increasingly seem intent on no conversation at all and in slamming shut the doors and windows and through imposing traditional disciplines. The press continues to record the pain: Church not in communion with changed beliefs of Irish Catholics; Curia is stifling debate on church reform, says silenced priest; Most Irish want married priests; Pope has consistently come down on dissent within the church like a hammer. Malachy O’Doherty, a Belfast based journalist says “The autocratic approach of Pope Benedict has brought the Catholic Church in Ireland to the brink of schism.”
Irish church at the crossroads: reform or bust
Belfast Telegraph – The autocratic approach of Pope Benedict has brought the Catholic Church in Ireland to the brink of schism, argues Malachi O’Doherty. A revolution is brewing within the Catholic Church in Ireland. It is coming from the only stratum of the Church that has the power to affect radical change: the priests. The question is: will they have the numbers, the coherence, or the energy to force major change? They know what has to be done, because they have already recognised the difference between the character of the Church in Ireland and the kind of church Rome wants it to be.
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/news-analysis/irish-church-at-the-crossroads-reform-or-bust-16146437.htmlWhat gives first?
Church not in communion with changed beliefs of Irish Catholics
Irish Examiner – A poll commissioned by the Association of Catholic Priests revealed Catholic Church teachings on sexuality have “no relevance” for 75% of Irish Catholics or for their families. Furthermore, 87% believe priests should be allowed to marry, …
http://www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/colette-browne/church-not-in-communion-with-changed-beliefs-of-irish-catholics-190913.html
Curia is stifling debate on church reform, says silenced priest
Irish Times – The priest added: “It is not possible to speak about reform in the church, be it in Ireland or elsewhere, without bearing in mind the ever-present elephant in the room, namely the Roman curia and the papacy,” the priest, known to The Irish Times, said.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2012/0418/1224314875324.html
Most Irish want married priests
Irish Echo – 72 percent believe that married men should be allowed to be ordained while 46 percent said they opposed the church’s stance on homosexuality. 75 percent of respondents said they believed that the church’s teachings on sexuality were irrelevant to their …
http://irishecho.com/?p=71185
Pope has consistently come down on dissent within the church like a hammer
Irish Times – He was later reconciled with the church. There is also something deeply insidious about the methods he and Rome use to silence those who disagree, as we have seen in Ireland. You might say Rome has ways of making you “think with the mind of the church” …
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2012/0418/1224314874708.html